The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-10-30
THE WAYS OF THE RED MAN
RecoIleciions Of Tribes Living in Indi-
ana When the Pioneers Came.
inal Skins-A Tribe That Believed They
Descended from q Fish.

acquaintance
hon of Indiana in the early days OF it's settle
men.. Judge F. NJ. Finch 10 who had special
advantages for learning their customs and char
acteristes He was for several years in the en-
ploy Of his brother-in-law. William Conner who
was the principal Indian trader Of central In
diana, and who better terms with the
Indians than any man of Auelo.Saxon descent
sn the State. Through him, well as by bis
personal observation, Judge Finch obtained
much information CONCERNING the Indians. In
response TO an inquiry. few days since. by
Journal reporter, 70 the Indian trade in this
section, be said. Tho great trade of the In
dams in peltry. That was the principal
projnct that the white men wanted to buy and
and the they found easiest to furnish.
They were very skiilfnl In the preparation of
pNrns for the market They made COON
skins almost rectangular in dressing
them. Their mode to trim the
head to the eyes. and sew the skin
OF the forelees TO the edges of the skin Of the
neck and head. making the fore part as broad as
the hind part. They were cleaned very care
fully, all the meat and fat being removed
never saw white man who could fix them as
nicely as the Indians did. Deer skins were pre-
pared and stretched in the same way. TIE mode
of stretching was to make little holes along the
bark run; to these strips bark strings were
tied, and then fastened to trees or saplinRs on
either eide and drawn tight. There were some
skins Of smaller animals, such as the otter.
muskrat and mink that were not stretched in
this way. In skinning these animals the in.
cisioDs were made about the mouth and head,
and the body of the animal was drawn through
the cut, leaving the skin inside out They then
thrust stout hoop OF oak or hickory intoit. and
by It's tension the skin was stretched tight The
white people usually had pieces of hoard cut in
proper shape that they used for this purpose"
How were the prices regulatedV'
4Tney depended chiefly on the quality OF the
pelt The Indians were very shrewd in their
trading. and understood the condition and value
pf pelt we'll the traders did. 10 judging
ene, those who expert do not look ut the fur,
but at the skin side. If an animal 10 killed in
The skin 10 of yellow color inside If it has
been killed out of season the skin is blush in
Solor, and the fur is poor All Of the skins
Except heaver sold at much apiece.
Beaver skins sold by weight and for that
reason the Indians never cleaned them nicely
~ they did other skins. They left as much fat
Dn them they dared in order to make them
weigh more. Some times the traders would
open the beaver packs and find pieces of stone
metal put in between the skins TO add to the
weight"
did they bring in other things for trade be-
sides furs2'
Yes. but in smaller quantities. They made
They had large, fine camp on the west side OF
White river, above Nobesvie. The sap was
raneht in little bark sronghs that wonld hold
perhaps half bucket full, and boiled down In
brass kettles Brass kettles were universal
corking utensils OF the Indians at that time
You would never a party of them without
several kettles. In stirring off they stirred the
zap . great deal. and so made the sugar OF very
fine grain. They then nodded it in small. round
cakes about six eight inches across. They
used 10 bring in considerable quantities OF honey
and besswax also. There were many wild bees
in the country. and plenty of honey for those
who you'd find the trees in which they hived
and cut them down. They would put the comb
IA their kettles, separate the wax and boil down
the honey un.il 1t was as thick as the thckest
xnolasses. Sometimes they would make it thick
% shoemakrr's wax and roll it in balls. The
trade IN these articles, however. was very small
ms compared with the trade in peltry"
did they raise any crops besides cornf"
Il never Jaw any. Nearly all the corn rsised |
Ia this region was in the prairie about Shaw |
town They called it squaw-corn. The ears |
were long and had only eight or ten rows of |
grains They had curious method of prepar |
Ing II for transportation. The outer husk was |
stripped off and braided into ropes, and the |
Inner husk. which was stripped back from the |
ear. was braided in at short intervals. making
husk rope with the ears suspended from it.
They would sometimes have several bushels on |
one rope. and would gather IL up and |
throw it over horse when they wanted to |
move. When they campsd for any length OF |
time they would hunt out a solid log lear the |
Camp and cut in &c a square hole about six inches
across and as deep as their hatchets would cut. |
Into this they nut the shelied corn and pounded |
IL with wooden pestle until il was broken. The |
corn Was not very hard. It tasted well and was |
very nutritious never knew OF their using IL |
except in the shape of hominy, after it had |
ripsned The cultivation was ali done with hoes. |
and by the squaws. The hoe was only three or /
four inches broad, hut was thick and quite heavy.
These were made for the Indian trade and were |
commonly known as squaw hoes"
How did they keep meatf
"By jerking it. They cut It in thin strips,
and placed IL on framework of sticks under |
which bed of live coais In this way the |
meat was partially dried and partially cooked.
They were very fond os salt. but had very little
OF it. ! remember one fall when they cured the
meat they had taken in their fall hunt my |
fathers house. i went over and watched them.
They had skins spread on the ground. and threw
pieces of meat on them in pile as fast as they |
were sufficiently dried. One thing that i'm pressed
itself on nv memary was that little naked In
dian climbed up the pile and sat down.
What clnrhing did they wearl"
They bad buckskin leegings reaching to the
waist. the legs separate. and breech clout of
shirts. but sometimes not In cold weather they
wrapped blankets about them. In
cold weather they often wrapped
pieces or BLANKET about their feet before put
ting their moccasins. II is a very singular
Tact tina, they could walk in snow without wet
ting their moccaElns, when the weather was
frosty. have often known them TO hunt all
day in the snow and come home with dry feet
If a white man wore them the heat of his feet
would melt the snow and wet the moccasins. /
presume it vas some popularity In the circula-
tion. They never sweat much"
did these Indians tattool'
very little. Most of the Indian tribes had
tradiuons that they were descended from some
animal or other. The Shawnees said that they
were descended from fish, and they used to
have FISH tattooed on them. They said that
the Transformation took place in lake in north
ern lniiana-Beaver lake. think it was. Will
lam Conner told me be had often the place.
He said that root projected into the water and
the Indians pointed IL out the that the
first Indian cangnt hold Of G. pull himself ont of
the water. when he was transformed into man.
Other tribes said they came from other animals
and they usually had figures Of tnese animals
tattooed on ,hem. / never saw any tattooing
except that"